Chapter 151: Chapter 102: Mastering the Black Crow Flame, The Right to Erode Bones_2
 

A branch that cannot provide many benefits for the Main Sect of Wan Dan Sect.

has little status and rights.

“It seems,” Luo Changfeng said, “that improving the ranking of the Luoshan Prefecture Sub-sect has become a matter of necessity.”

“It is the assessment and judgement from the Main Sect of Wan Dan Sect.”

“About once a year, such an evaluation takes place.”

“That is to say, if we want to change the ranking of the Luoshan Prefecture Sub-sect, we have to wait at least another ten months…”

…

There’s no way to improve the ranking of the Luoshan Prefecture Sub-sect in a short period of time.

Left with no choice, Luo Changfeng could only continue to work on building a closer rapport with the Black Crow Flame that was constantly circling around him.

Only when their closeness reached a certain level,

could he command the Black Crow Flame,

and attain a level of control as if directing his own limbs.

Only then could he use the Black Crow Flame for a series of actions in alchemy and artifact refining.

…

Time flies.

In the blink of an eye, another half month had passed.

During this half month,

the situation within the Da Feng Dynasty had gradually become more chaotic.

The number of refugees was increasing by the day,

the number of bandits was swelling,

clashes between families were occurring at every moment.

Even within Luo Mountain Prefecture, the struggle between forces was still exceedingly intense.

In Huai Shui County, which was slightly better off,

various forces were still in a state of undercurrents.

Although at this moment, the Chen Family, Tang Family, King of Huai Shui, and the Luo Family seemed at peace with each other,

each was buried in cultivating their own strength,

but if the opportunity arose, other forces would certainly wage war and annihilate the others in one fell swoop,

and then take over the entire territory of Huai Shui County.

…

Outside Qingshi Town, by the countless fields that had been cultivated,

Luo Chuan, as the Young Master of the Luo Family,

was silently walking forward.

Behind him, Hu Min, who was the former Young Master of the Hu Family,

was closely following Luo Chuan.

“The situation seems to be worse than I imagined…” Luo Chuan murmured.

Luo Chuan slightly raised his head,

glancing at the scorching sun hanging high above.

Feeling the astonishing heatwaves coming from all directions,

he then looked at the crops in the fields, which were not in good condition to begin with, and now even more so as locusts gnawed them beyond recognition.

He couldn’t help but sigh softly.

“The water level of Huai Shui has dropped rapidly within half a month,” he said.

“I estimate it will completely dry up in about ten days to half a month.”

“As for the locust situation, although various controls are being implemented, the number and scale of locusts have been continually rising over this half month,”

“In fact, I’ve heard that in two or three prefectures to the north, massive locust plagues have already started to break out.”

“Countless crops have been devoured,”

“And the sky is swarming with locusts everywhere,”

“There are even several instances of locusts consuming humans,'”

“Hu Min, do you think our Huai Shui County…”

“No, I should say, within our Luo Mountain Prefecture, the same will happen?” Luo Chuan suddenly asked Hu Min, who had been showing an increasingly impressive performance over the past half month.

“The two or three prefectures in the north suffering from the locust plague are very far from our Luo Mountain Prefecture,”

“In the short term, it shouldn’t affect us here,”

“However, if we can’t suppress the number of locusts in the fields and reduce their scale…”

“I think a locust disaster is just a matter of time,” Hu Min replied after a long contemplation.

“A matter of time, huh?” Luo Chuan nodded silently.

Hu Min’s thoughts weren’t far from his own.

The drop in Huai Shui’s water level, the increasing number of locusts, and their expanding scale,

were all bad news for Luo Family of Qingshi Town, and for the entire Huai Shui County.

For now, they were barely able to maintain control,

barely managing to handle the current situation,

but as time went on, collapse would become an inevitable fact.

And by then, if half or even more of the prefectures in the Da Feng Dynasty suffered from locust plagues,

leading to a further reduction in food production,

or even complete crop failure,

the chaos of the Da Feng Dynasty would undoubtedly be far worse than it is now,

and the value of food would inevitably skyrocket.

It may look like the Luo Family currently has a fairly friendly relationship with the Luo Family of Jiangnan Prefecture, one of the Four Great Families that produce food,

and the trade between the two continues unabated,

but as time passes, and as the locust plagues get worse,

and as the value of food continues to rise,

will the Luo Family continue to trade food with the Luo Family in exchange for the Qingstone ore veins as they do now?

Clearly, this will become an unknown factor.

The food security of one major power being controlled by another is never a good scenario, no matter when it occurs.

…

In Luo Family Ancestral Land of Qingshi Town,

within the room of the Luo Family Patriarch,

Luo Ping, the current Family Head of the Luo Family,

was sitting quietly in the main seat, silently flipping through a document about the family’s food reserve.

It’s worth mentioning here,

that the Luo Family has its own food reserves,

designated specifically for the use of the Luo Family Clan members.

This portion of the food was absolutely not to be touched.